Check engine pod mounts, safety investigation warns
A morning out fishing came close to disaster for a couple of boaties when their engine pod jumped off the transomUndersize washers were most likely responsible for an outboard engine that detached from a boat, almost swamping it, a report into the incident has found.
Maritime Safety Victoria has released the results of an incident report looking into an engine that jumped off the transom of a fibreglass fishing boat while it was cruising at 30 knots in fairly calm one-metre seas off Werribee in Melbourne’s south-west.
>> 15 tips to prevent your boat sinking
“A couple of keen fishers were heading home after a morning on the water when the outboard motor pod failed, slewing the motor to the starboard side and spinning the boat 180 degrees,” the report says.
“One of the men attempted to cut the motor loose while waves were slopping over the transom, where the engine was still partially attached.”
One of the men phoned 000, but was not able to give police an accurate GPS location. He was asked to activate the boat’s EPIRB to help a helicopter to locate them.
The boaters also set off rocket and handheld flares to alert boats they’d seen nearby, “but no-one came over”.
Transom swamped
Compounding the boaters’ problems was water coming in over the transom, which had shorted an engine battery that also supplied power to the boat’s VHF radio.
MSV said the boaters were able to contact another vessel via a 27meg radio powered off a separate port-side house battery, but again could not give an accurate location.
The boaters were eventually located and towed back to the boat ramp with the engine still hanging off the transom.
MSV said the boat’s owner had bought the vessel about four years before the incident, and had noticed “some cracks on the transom, but they did not appear serious”.
Undersize washers to blame?
The report said the outboard engine may have been attached to the transom with washers that were too small.
“Over time, the washers had crushed the flange on the fibreglass engine pod, and this led to a catastrophic failure while underway,” it said. “Regular checks may prevent failures like this occurring by identifying wear and tear early.”
The report contains tips that boat owners can use to inspect the engine pod’s mounting for signs of wear and tear:
- Look for signs of fibreglass laminate crushing.
- Look for signs of water ingress around bolts.
- Routinely remove a bolt to check state of fibreglass for water intrusion and to check compression.
It also recommends that when fitting an engine pod:
- Good practice is to have a non-crushable core in the GRP laminate to drill attachment holes through. Core materials used should be crush resistant and compatible with marine construction standards and practice.
- Use washers that are much larger than the bolt heads to spread the crushing load.
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